Stealing the Stolen
by Dolly-Doll-Face
Summary: Everyone wants something; pirates want treasure, villains want power, prisoners want freedom, and officers want recognition. But can everyone get what they want, when everyone's different desires revolve around the same thing? Pass it down the line, because it isn't stealing if it's already been stolen! (a rewrite of A Really Long Story. Contains USxfem!UK and multiple ships.)
1. The Pirate

***I don't Hetalia.***

* * *

_Chapter One_

_The Pirate_

* * *

The pub by the docks was an interesting place, while the rest of the town was quite quaint the pub was...well not. The place was often unnecessarily loud, had drunken fights break out more often than not, and was usually accompanied by sea weary sailors and pirates. So the current chaos was normal but was suddenly broken by the piercing sound of a gunshot. When the bar's population faced the gun totter they were stunned further into silence at the hand that held the smoking pistol.

"Alright ya' scalawags where in this god forsaken pub can I find Kaoru?"

The sailors looked at one another in shock because while they were afraid to provoke the most feared pirate in the sea, namely the merciless Arthur Kirkland, they had no clue to who this "Kaoru" was.

"Must you always make such a loud entrance?" The voice that spoke up was accompanied by a rather thick accent that belonged to the North East. A short, dark haired man stepped calmly forward to address the trigger-happy pirate. "There ye are, old chap, now I've got some business to discuss with you." The wild-eyed pirate almost chirped as the pistol was put away smoothly. Kaoru rolled his eyes as his friend swung an arm around his shoulders to guide them to a booth in the bar's far corner. "Artemis, you never cease to amaze."

"Hush-shush-shush mate, the whole bar doesn't need to know that the most feared pirate around is actually a she, now do they?" She plopped down on the worn cushion of the bench and kicked up her boots so they rested on the chipped table as the man scoffed, "I don't really think it would matter much to them since they'd get their asses handed to them regardless." The pirate gave a nonchalant shrug, "Perhaps, but I quite like the element of surprise." Kaoru looked up to see the barmaid swayed her way over, her top to low and her corset too tight. "What can I get ya' boys?" Artemis ordered two rums and waited for her friend to speak. There was a beat of silence between them, "So you need ship repairs and new crew, what for may I ask?" Kaoru guessed correctly, as was expected. Another shrug, "Because my boat is damaged and my crew worn out." Artemis explained lazily while taking a swig of the rum from the iron cup that had been placed before her. The man still didn't relent and opted to raise a thick brow at his friend's elusive behavior instead. Seeing this, Artemis sat up from her slouch and leaned closer to her companion, "The King hired me." This perked Kaoru's interest and he leaned in as well, "and what does his highness want _you_ to do? Royals don't typically throw themselves to the _sea dogs,_ unless they're at the end of their rope."

_The King's court eyed the smirking thief before them with distrustful gaze; of course this didn't faze them in the slightest. "The king wishes to speak to you captain." The pompously dressed adviser announced. __The silver crown on the Kings head seemed to grow heavier as it often did when he was addressed as such, but he ignored the weight and retuned to the matter at hand, "Captain Arthur Kirkland?" The young pirate smirked widely and removed an exorbitant hat which revealed a head of messy blond hair that was tied onto a low ponytail. The pirate gave a dramatic bow, "The one and only your majesty, what can I do for you?" The young king raised a brow at the cocky arrogance of such a young individual, though he himself was still younger than the pirate before him. __"You are aware of the tragedy twelve years ago?" The captain's smirk faltered ever so slightly, she did vividly; it had been devastating for everyone. __"I do your majesty." The royal nodded solemnly, but continued. "Since my navy seems to be incapable of finding him I wish to offer you a deal." A thick blond brow rose, "Deal?" __"Yes captain. I want you to return my brother to me." The King spoke with authority as he presented his order. The Pirate's features lifted in mild amusement, "and what's in it for me?" King Matthew waved his hand and a servant bearing a large, but still manageable chest; lifted the lid to reveal hundreds of thousands of gleaming gold pieces and many colorful sparkling jewels, "You will receive this and more, also my navy will not be allowed to touch you. Granted that you don't attack any of my ships." Greedy green eyes took in the almost glowing chest of goods. "Alright your highness, we have a deal. But I must ask, how exactly do I find him?" The King stood up from his throne and walked over to the pirate -much to the unease of this guards- while placing one hand into his coat. The captain watched with curiosity as her king pulled out his fist and placed something into her gloved hands. __"You'll know."_

"And what was that something?" The smirk on the Artimis' didn't died at the question, but rather grew as she pulled from her pocket a baby blue sapphire the size of a plump raspberry and skidded it across the table for her friend to examine. "Turns out the blue bloods will pay a pretty penny for their nicked prince."

Her companion's slanted eyes widened revealing dark chestnut irises, "The King actually expects you to find _him_? You are looking for a dead man; the prince has been missing for twelve years! Not even the royal navy could find heads or tails of him and they were looking for three years straight! Lost three admirals too." He sighed deeply, "It's like he vanished into thin air." Kaoru swirled his drink around; pondering the event of abducted the prince and the failed three-year search for him.

"Ah, that's where you're wrong mate, it's not that the perpetrator has disappeared, but rather that the navy hasn't been looking in the right places." Artemis explained cockily causing her friend to raise a doubting brow, "and you know where this "right place" is?" He asked picking up his forgotten drink and lifting it to his lips. To his sarcastic comment the pirate calmly retorted, "I know someone who might."

Kaoru sighed and threw back the iron mug and took long drink of ale before responding, "Artemis this is a suicide mission! Do you realize how hard it is to find a suicidal crew? You'll probably never find the boy and even if you do manage to find him, how exactly do you plan on stealing him back? Or possibly convincing him to return with a bunch of Pirates?" The words of caution where lost to the young woman. She'd done suicide missions plenty of times, how different could this one possibly be?

"The beauty of nicking is to not know until faced with the situation."

Giving up, Kaoru tossed the gem back to the scarlet clad captain, who caught it with ease and slipped it back into her pocket.

"Honestly friend, you're completely mad, it's a wonder to me why you're even still alive." Laughter danced in the Artemis' eyes, giving them a mysterious glow. "There are perks to everything Kaoru, being mad just happens to save my arse." Kaoru couldn't help himself as he smiled, while shaking his head. "I'll drink to that!" The mugs collided with a loud clunk and the splash of escaped alcohol as it hit the scarred wood of the table.

* * *

**Nicked; Nicking: British slang for "stolen; stealing"**

**Just in case anyone was wondering -because they didn't read it in the summary for some reason- this is the rewritten version of "A Really Long Story" and I'll be posting these re-written chapters every Saturday. I hope you enjoy and please leave me a review! They keep me motivated. X)**

**-Dolly**


	2. The Officers

**I don't own Hetalia or it's Characters. (A/N at the end)**

* * *

_Chapter Two_

_The Admirals_

* * *

The Inside of the prison was dark; the only exceptions were the small barred windows and oil lanterns that hung on every other cell. Despite the normal warm glow they provided, they somehow made the place look darker and more threatening.

The only occupants to the prison were three men. The one in the far left cell was a rugged looking albino. His clothes were looking worse for wear and were made up mostly of dark navy blues and rich reds only out shined by his own blood red eyes. His snowy hair was a messy disarray of sharp spikes poking in all directions and his skin was so pale it was hard to believe he spent any time outside. He was pacing amongst the hay and cobblestone. The second man who, dwelled in the middle, was a surprisingly well-groomed blonde. His hair fell in soft looking waves that sat on his shoulders accompanied by trimmed stubble lined his chin. He sat and stared at his somehow clean nails with bored deep violet eyes, sometimes pulling ahis flashy blue coat. The last man was on the far right cell. He didn't look as rough as he did disheveled, yet it seemed to fit him. His short hair was a chocolate brown and looked rather windblown. Unlike his fellow fair skinned prisoners, his own was of an olive tone and his jade green eyes that gazed off into space from his awkward squat on the hay-covered ground.

"How did we get in this mess?"

The Albino's question was rhetorical since the three of them had been locked up for days, but had never spoken before.

"Kept my men at sea too long. I remember bringing them to a bar at some point, but I took a good blow to the head. So I don't remember much." The brunette sighed and curled into a tighter ball. The blonde gave a sad pout, "Mutiny is quite the bitch, is it not?" This caused the Albino to sigh, "I'll say. Stripped me of my title and left me on some god forsaken dock to rot." He spat at the ground in his frustration. "Name's Gilbert by the way. How did you two wind up down here in the pit?"

"Antonio," The brunette piped up, "I made the drunken mistake of picking a fight with some spikey haired bastard." He suddenly was shaking with an incessant giggling fit. "The names I threw at him, you should have seen his face, it was hilarious!" He held his gut as his laughter began to finally die down, "Too bad he was a solider." He whipped a tear away as the blonde spoke up. "I'm Francis and I attempted to court said spikey haired bastard's beautiful sister." Francis' confession made Antonio absolutely howl with laughter, "I've been called a dim-wit, but even I wouldn't do something as stupid as that!" Gilbert found he couldn't force down the chuckles that shook his own gut either and began snickering at set of raspy "Kesesese's".

"Could you ladies keep it down?" The thundering of heavy feet followed the demand. "Or do I have to make you?"

The trio looked up to see their rather disgruntled looking prison guard.

"No sir, we're shutting up now." Francis called as Gilbert and Antonio attempted to smother the next round of giggles. The guard gave a rough grunt and turned on his heel, shutting the door behind him. The trio waited until another chorus of snores slipped through the wood of the prison's door before speaking to each other in much quieter tones.

"What about you red eyes?" Francis asked, leaning against the bars of his cell, "What got you locked up down here?" Gilbert raised a sharp brow at the nickname, "I got caught as a stowaway when the ship hit this port. Been in here three weeks." Francis paled, "Good goddess, it's a wonder you've survived friend, this is hell on Avalon!" The Albino scoffed, "No, hell on Avalon is watching your crew sail off with your ship because you wanted to follow through on your orders." Francis gave a solemn sigh, "Touché." There was long pause between the three former naval officers. "They just...couldn't take it anymore. We just got to a certain point and they lost it." Francis whispered and Gilbert nodded, "Same here. Saw another straggling island and lost their minds."

"Was is a single island with sand that looked like gold?"

The two looked over to Antonio, who was now standing and holding the bars that separated them. "Yes, how did you-?" Gilbert began, but was cut off, "So you both saw that too?" Francis all but squeaked. They all exchanged glances, which all said that they were all looking for the same thing.

"We'll need some time to plan this out..." Francis rubbed his golden stubble in thought, but Antonio shook his head, "Not inside here, the longer we stay in here the harder it will be to escape."

"Okay, how about this; in the next few weeks we round up some supplies and on the busiest night of the month, we sail off on an unaccompanied ship at the dock." Gilbert suggested and Antonio nodded with his usual smile. "Sounds good to me."

"Great! So, how do we get out of here?"

The awkward silence that followed caused Francis to smack his face in frustration. "I thought you had already figured that out!"

The two began whisper-shouting at each other and Antonio looked up to see a yellow ball of feathers skip through the barred windows and nest amongst silver hair. "Gilbert, what is that on your head?" Gilbert ceased arguing and lifted his hand to his head; his fingers were greeted with softness and he distinctly heard a surprisingly low-pitched peep. A wide grin broke out on his face, "Gilbird! Where have you been friend?" The yellow ball flapped its little wings and landed on Gilbert's shoulder. Francis sighed from within his cadge. "Okay, so now that we know that._ How_ are we going to get out of here?"

"I've got it, what if I send Gilbird to get us a crowbar or something?"

"How is he going to do that?"

"Hey, do not underestimate the awesomeness that is Gilbird!"

Francis rolled his eyes, "It's not a matter of "awesomeness", and it's a matter of weight ratio! Your five ounce bird cannot carry a one pound crowbar!"

"Then could that little bird go get the keys from the guard over there?" Antonio asked pointing to the currently sleeping guard, "Psh, this awesome little guy can do it, right?" The bird gave a low cheep and fluttered through the cell bars.

Within two minutes Gilbird returned and dropped the key ring in front of the bars. Without hesitation Gilbert snatched the keys and quickly stuck multiple iron keys in the lock until finally he heard a click. "I told you, do not underestimate Gilbird's awesomeness."

* * *

**A/N: I love writing with the BTT, even if this one is shorter, earlier, and a little angstier than in A Really Long Story. However the set up I have now actually makes more sense than what I had before, trust me. Hope you guys are enjoying this rewrite! Also, f.y.i. the "Spiky haired bastard" is The Netherlands and his sister is of course Belgium. **

**Please drop me a review, those are my favorite!**

**-Dolly**


End file.
